Have you ever wanted to make your own web comic? If so, the NEStalgia Web Comic Contest is your big chance to shine, and to win some cool prizes.

To illustrate what a NEStalgia web comic might look like, I've created an example:

This comic is merely an example, and you don't have to make your entry anything like it. Web comics come in all shapes and sizes - there isn't any definitive way to make one. The main thing that I'll be looking for is the quality of the idea behind the comic. With that in mind you can make pretty much anything that you'd like, whether you choose to make a longer comic to tell a funny story or you decide to use a single pane that presents a great bit of satire.

Your comic must somehow be related to NEStalgia. You could follow the example comic's approach and make it about NEStalgia's game mechanics, or you could focus on the game's plot, the player community and culture, or even just how NEStalgia relates to the rest of BYOND or the gaming world in general. Your comic can use screenshots from the game or be drawn by hand - whatever fits your approach.

If you're going to use screenshots from NEStalgia then in most cases you should make sure that the screenshots are not color compressed. What does that mean? Take screenshots using the game's built-in F2 function, and save all of your work as either BMP or PNG. Saving as a JPG etc. will blur your image and make the colors look bad.

To submit a comic either email it to me at silkgames@mac.com or post a link to it in the comments thread of this post. You have most of this week to work on your web comics - all entries are due no later than Thursday, February 24th at Midnight PST. Creating multiple entries is okay.

Rules:

Comics may be submitted via email to silkgames@mac.com or by posting a link in the comments thread of this blog entry. All entries must be submitted no later than Thursday, February 24th at Midnight PST.

No uncensored profanity or explicit images allowed.

Entries from BYONDers who are banned from NEStalgia will not be accepted.

Judging Criteria:

1.) Creativity. The idea is king, and I'm not necessarily looking for comedy. Your goal is to tell an interesting story or present thought-provoking commentary/satire that makes people want to see more.

2.) Presentation. You don't need to be an artist, but it should look like you put some time into making everything look as good as possible. Space out the panels consistently, ensure that all text is readable, and any NEStalgia screenshots that you use should (in most cases) be clean - save your work as a PNG or BMP.

Prizes:

1st Place: Your choice of a $20 Amazon.com gift card, a lifetime subscription to NEStalgia, or a BYOND Membership

2nd/3rd Place: One year subscriptions to NEStalgia

Do not get intimidated by the prospect of creating something and sharing it - be confident in yourself and whatever idea that you come up with. The worst thing that could possibly happen would be not winning, but if you don't even enter the contest then your chances of winning are zero anyway. Have some fun with this!

If I remember correctly, that particular comic needs to be put in context (a response to some blog post I made) in order to make sense.

Anyway, thank you for reminding me, as I forgot to mention this: I welcome and embrace any comics that want to poke fun at or "take the Mickey" out of NEStalgia. The sky really is the limit when it comes to ideas - the only requirement is that the comic be about NEStalgia :)

I like the part where nobody knows what's going on, and all the dialog is read in the wrong order.

I'll allow people to post constructive criticism in these comments, but this is just mean spirited. Please keep in mind that this contest is meant to be fun, and demeaning others like this is contrary to the spirit of the whole thing.